Mini Disaster in Scarsdale, NY

Hi guys. Last Saturday a ferocious wind and rain storm hit our house in Scarsdale, NY. (Keep in mind I'm in Budapest, Hungary for my work.) Worse for some others than us but we were without power for 5 long days. End result is a 1/4 of our roof is gone, serious water damage top floor, neighbour's trees are laying in our yard, sump pump got some serious action, and we lost some food. Thank heaven that was it. Now the insurance assessor is due and we expect to get a few $ to at least fix the roof and water damage. Gonna dig deeper into our pockets and put a whole new (GAF Timberline) roof on and insulate the entire house. I should say that the basic structure dates back to the 1700's and there's no insulation between the shiplap wooden siding and the plaster/lathe interior walls. Question is what kind of insulation? I'm leaning toward injected (from outside) tri-polymer, slight expanding foam done by a pro. And while we're at it, do the same to seal the field stone cellar to the upper structure from underneath. Costly, but from research it seems the best alternative. Any advice? Cheers and best regards, Rughead.

It depends on the house's style. Metal roofs can look "industrial" and out of place on some, if not many, homes. There are many "injectable" insulations, (foam cellulose, vermiculite, etc,), so check their "R" values and costs.

Im getting a new roof put on in a couple weeks (unrelated to the storm, although we did lose a few flaps of shingles)

My house isnt 1700s, but I did ask the roofer about spray foam insulation for our cathedral ceiling....I wanted him to remove all of the roof decking and then have it spray foamed in before putting new roof decking back on and roof on top of that. So he had a vested interest, and still said NO. The problem he has with spray foam is that, if you dont get absolutely every nook and cranny filled, you will have moisture issues. No the foam isnt pourous, but eventually you'll either have wet drywall (as the moisture finds its way thru many small uninsulated crannies) or even worse you'll have mold.

I took him for his word and will stick with correctly vented fibergalss insulation for my cathedral ceiling. I know your situation is different (walls vs ceiling), but I would tend to lean the same way. The more I think about it, the more I agree....how long have we been using fiberglass (or even blow in cellular) insulation? a very long time, and it works well. Cellular might be another option to consider...its not completely packed so it can breathe, and you have the option of doing it from the inside with small round holes in each wall cavity

Well, we decided on the dense packed Applegate dry cellulose blown-in insulation done by a reputable company that's been doing this in the NY area since '82. Comes with a "lifetime" guarantee and regular returns to check for any settling, cold spots, etc. As well they should for $2900. Did look into metal roofing that looks like shingles but we still like the 40 year GAF timberline shingles so we'll go with that. Darn neighbors don't have good enough insurance to pay for removal of their big apple tree that was uprooted and fell into our back yard. Our insurance won't touch it and they're hassling the neighbors. Our insurance is paying for our roof and water damages inside though. Oh well, such is life in the 'burbs. Thanks for all your advice. Cheers and best regards, Rughead.

Hi Loafer. Would love to but they are mentally, physically and financially disabled. Their entire property's already a disaster zone and my wife is inclined to to pity them and speaks of "negotiating" with them to have the tree removed. (This leads me to seeing me paying $$ at the end of said negotiations.) So for the sake of harmony at home I guess I'll end up biting the bullet. Cheers, Rughead.